Elon Musk praises results after SpaceX intentionally blows up Starship tank

by Staff Writers Washington DC (Sputnik) Jan 14, 2020 Sputnik

This is the second time SpaceX has blown up its completed hardware with the aim of finding out the company's limits in terms of production and assembly methods, media reported.

On 10 January, a SpaceX team of engineers blew up a miniature Starship tank, which had been built for just 20 days, Teslarati reports.

After the test, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to reveal the results in detail while answering a corresponding question of a netizen.

Musk has added that the tank collapsed almost exactly where and how it had been planned when the weld, connecting the tank's wall and dome, failed under the maximum sustained pressure of 7.1 bar, which is 18 per cent over the operating pressure. He has stressed that SpaceX demands Starships to sustain a minimum of 40% over the operating pressure before humans will be allowed to fly them.

According to Teslarati, the results of the test have made it possible for the spaceflight company to build the first Starship vehicles which are able to fly in space.

Source: RIA Novosti

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